Readers' comments

Martin456
Hungary's position to renegotiate the IMF contract is not so weak. Do you remember the Austrian finance minister, who run throughout Europe as a poisoned mouse after the outbreak of crisis for asking help the Eastern-European economies? If the Hungarian government failed, the whole Hungarian bank system would also fail (15% of the total outstanding of Hungarian banks is in T-bonds). The bank sector is mostly owned by German, Austrian, and Belgian bank, which also suffer. This fear from domino-effect helps the Greeks to access EU loans, and also gives the Hungarian government strong position.

@dragos27: I have never heard of "The Budapest Report" before, and looking at their articles (three items under "Opinions & Analysis since 2009?), they do not seem to be a serious operation. I believe the main English language news/opinion sites in Hungary are Politics.hu (http://www.politics.hu/) and The Budapest Sun (http://www.budapestsun.com/), although the second doesn't seem to have much content in its online edition.

In fact, it appears Orban has said the second quote twice. Here is the other one, once again with my translation (from a September 2000 interview in Berliner Zeitung - unfortunately, the direct link only shows a snippet: http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2000/0...):
"Természetesen létezik számunkra élet az Európai Unión kívül is. Látjuk, hogy mindeddig nincs egységes akarat az EU-n belül a bővítésre. Az EU bővítése ugyanis az unió polgárainak, különösen a németeknek, nagy gazdasági előnyöket is jelent. Ami pedig a munkahelyekért érzett aggodalmat illeti: nekem itt, Magyarországon is meghaladja az erőmet, hogy a kevesebb munkalehetőséget és alacsonyabb béreket kínáló keleti országrészben élő embereket rábírjam arra, költözzenek az ország nyugati felébe. A magyarok nehezen mozdulnak a megszokott helyről, tehát nem áll fenn az a veszély, hogy tömegesen kelnek útra elvenni - például - a németek munkahelyeit."
("Naturally, life also exists for us outside the European Union. We see that thus far, there has been no united will for accession within the EU. EU enlargement means significant economic advantages for the citizens of the Union, especially the Germans. With respect to the concern about jobs, I have to say that here in Hungary, it is beyond my abilities to convince people living in the eastern part of Hungary where there are less job opportunities and the wages are lower, to move to the western half. Hungarians find it hard to move from a place they have been accustomed to, so there is no danger that they will move en masse to take - for example - the Germans' jobs.")

dragos27: Mr. Orban most assuredly did not say the first, and uttered the second in a different contex than might be expected. The first saying is attributed to the late Mr. József Antall, and goes: "Lélekben tizenötmillió magyar miniszterelnökeként kívánok tevékenykedni" ("I wish to act in spirit as the prime minister of fifteen million Hungarians.")

The second saying, which is genuinely Mr. Orban's, was made in 2000 to reflect on the delay of the Central European states' EU-accession date in comparison with previous EU projections. In full, it goes: "Az Európai Unión kívül is van élet, de belül azért jobb. Nem azt a kifejezést használjuk, hogy Európán kívül is, ami önmagában is azt mutatja, hogy az Európai Unió, Közép-Európa nélkül csonka Európa. Bár a magyar külpolitikának kiemelt fontosságú az EU-s csatlakozás, nem lehet minden erônkkel kizárólag arra koncentrálni." ("There is life outside the European Union, but it is nevertheless better inside. We do not use the phrase "outside Europe", which by itself demonstrates that without Central Europe, the European Union is incomplete Europe. Although Hungarian foreign policy considers EU-accession extraordinarily important, we cannot concentrate all our attention on it alone.")

All in all: there is life outside sound bites and accidental or deliberate distortions.

Mr Orban also expressed wish to become the premier for an estimated 15 million Hungarians worldwide.
The fact that the EU raised eyebrow is irrelevant on the grounds that “there is life outside the EU” as Orban put in the past.

Ph. D. is right. I don't see anything to be optimistic about in Hungary. Actually the 2/3 win by Fidesz is more of a bad thing as it gives the government more power to do damage. Because this is what the Hungarian governments have been doing for the past 20 years.

The problem of Hungary is very similar to Greece, ie nobody is doing productive work, everybody wants a Western standard of living, and Hungarians who are willing to work hard already left the country.

Orban has zero understanding of finance and economics and his other party members are no better. Lets look at some of his proposals:
1. Renegotiate with the IMF and have the upper hand. Hello? Your country is bankrupt! You are not in a position to negotiate with anyone. Hungary got a really good deal from the IMF compared to Greece so you have to be a complete idiot to think that with the current international sovereign debt crisis you can ask for better terms. The IMF can't afford to give anyone better terms than it currently gave to Greece.
2. Review the mandate of the Hungarian Central Bank. This means that Orban wants to strip the central bank of the little independence it has. The Result? Expect massive inflation when the government can't pay up.
3. Reduce taxes, increase government spending. Now this is just a pure joke. This is the last thing a bankrupt country can do. The only two ways to do it is a) take on huge debt - not an option anymore b) create massive inflation.
So it's pretty obvious that inflation is the big Fidesz economic plan. Rest assure that with the 2/3 majority in parliament they will destroy the little that is left of the Hungarian economy.

The moment of truth will come soon.
One of the key points in rhetorics of Fidesz was granting Hungarian citizeship to ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries.
It was supposed and alleged he is so strongly in favour because he needed voters. Well, he does not need them now. The historic 2/3 is under his belt.
So, if he backs off, offering some sort of watered-down, we-make-it-easier-for-you version, he will be no better than Gyurcsány, who, in one of the most shameful acts a Hungarian PM could do, openly campaigned against. Let us wait and see.

@Bristolguy
Thank You for reading my comment.
I am not a supporter of the socialist party, far from that. I liked the liberals at the beginning, but after 1994 I realized that they were in the wrong direction. I voted for the Fidesz in 1998 in 2002 in 2006 and in 2010, but -sorry - I had not brought an another person with me- as Mr Orbán requested.
About the corruption during the first Orbán goverment: if you have been following the hungarian politics I am sure You can remember Mr József Torgyán as a minister, and if You understand the hungarian language too it is enough to mention the Ország-Imázs Központ. I didn't tell lies illustrating the bitterness of my thoughts: Fidesz is not immaculate. Evidently socialists were devil's incarnates compared with them.
I respect the opinion of Yours: with this 2/3 Hungary has shed off postcommunism, but let me express - if I may - my deepest scepticism.

@Silverwater
I agree with you absolutely. Trying to attract home the emigrated
doctors will be an acid test of the new government's intentions with the health care system.
Unfortunately the policymaking of universities is connected to persons with very slow turnover.

bristolguy
Sorry to say but had you read the FIDESZ programme or at least listened to some of Orban's speaches, you would have seen that it has more to do with post-communism (more government intervention, see also in the article, one united political system and "national consultation" instead of "fruitless" political debates etc., you would clearly see that it has more common with post-communism as anything else.
temuco: there was re-privatisation which ruined the Hungarian agriculture as small farms were created which cannot be competitive. Or do you think the "oligarchs", i.e. the noble families which had nothing to do with agriculture?

I thank the editors of Economist for the coverage on the latest Hungarian national elections, which is a crucial milestone for a country that has rarely produced such success stories to make international visibility.
This time Hungary’s newly elected goverment has a historical moment, and the ultimate chance to rebuild national economy, education and health care from complete devastation. There is no second chance, as time has already run out by 20 years.
You correctly pointed out a number of major weaknesses this government and the country has to overcome, however, let me add a new crucial aspect to explain Hungary’s past failures in international competitiveness.
It is now clear, that a large proportion of a full generation of academic elite, who graduated after the first democratic elections in Hungary in 1990 has emigrated to Western Europe or USA. This process, that has even accelerated lately, occurs mainly due to consistent suppression of intellectual freedom and innovation by university leaders, lack of resources and incredibly low salaries.
Previous goverments have established a few, ill-defined programmes to attract emigrated academic elite back home. These plans consistently failed, because of the resistance of the home country’s university leadership and the improper use of funding, as it was pointed out in the latest review of the national R&D funding agency by the European Comission.
The worst from all news is, that academic elite who whishes to return to the home country are not welcome. The rigidity of the university hierarchy determines their failure.
Among the emigrated university graduates and high-value specialized academic professionals, the proportion of medical doctors is very high, which fact does not seem to bother the home country’s healthcare policymakers. As an example, the number of specialized Hungarian psychiatrists and anaesthesiologists living in Scandinavia is close to the number of those living at home. Is’nt it expensive to train doctors for Sweden from Hungarian taxpayers money, while a number of hospitals in the country were closed due to lack of trained doctors?
Being a Hungarian medical expert, associate professor in pediatric endocrinology at University of Turku, Research Fellow of the Academy of Finland, and member of several review boards at the European Comission FP7 Health Work Programme I have witnessed a number of success stories of Hungarian academics abroad, but I saw very few still working in the country. No wonder, no one can sail without a boat.
The new Hungarian governement has a crucial task in attracting emigrated medical and other academic elite to the country. They need to build the harbor and buy the boat, the wind will come home from West.
The other way to go is to wait another 20 years to raise new breeds, and try to keep them home.

You quite obviously think of yourself as an "aptly thinking Hungarian" but your wording, your train of thought with all those little lies, too many to address, give you away immediately: You've been a hardcore supporter of the miserably failed "left-liberal coalition", the ousted government of post-communists and bigoted liberals. (Like almost everyone of them these days, now you are cautiously distancing yourself from them.) And to speak of high levels of corruption in Mr. Orban's previous term is simply insolence in view of the past eight years of left-liberal rule.

Similarly like Poland in 2005, Hungary has shed off postcommunism finally. That's absolutely great news!

Orbán was Prime Minister form 1998 to 2002. He received a stabilized country thanks to Lajos Bokros a clear-minded economist. Orban was an enthusiastic young man with no experience and knowledge to govern at that time and so was the whole Fidesz too. He appointed ministers on political and not professional bases, increased the sense of well being of the people with easy to recieve, long term, subsidized loans that later turned out was not affordable. His style was very very similar to Berlusconi's.The corruption flourished and peaked in 2002, the year of the elections. He failed to win in that year and in 2006 either. Why? Simple because people can not be misleaded and fooled by waving the flags with impossible promises. Unfortunately worce leaders came after whom Mr Orban has been the absolute winner, regained what the most important for him - the power. That is where we stand now among introductions, announcements, renegotiations and brainstormings.
An interesting question: Is not Mr Orban himself an oligarch together with the local leaders of the Fidesz party, who frequently use their positions not respecting the ethics sometimes the law?

Mr Orban was always better in rhetorics than in politics and economics. His declaration of non-inferiority made Viktor more popular among his fans, but the debtors anxiety did not become lower. As we know - money talks. Whether he is IMF's subordinate or not the time will decide - remember the example of Greece! It's hard to imagine how to light the candle of gratitude arrogantly. Reducing the taxes is a good idea, but it alone won't cause economical miracle or boom. General national consensus is also necessary. People must understand thier standard of living will not rise in the following couple of years. Creating 1 million new jobs within 10 years is just a populist slogan the aptly thinking hungarians are fed up with.

Mr Orbán two-third is a great possibility to make a clear array in the heads of the people, Hugrary will sink further if the corruption and self-interested behavior both at the level of the goverment and in the everyday life of the citizens will be continued. I would be glad to see him starting the reforms with his own party which is rather undemocratic now, dominated by a single unquestionable leader - him. This might not remain within the curtains of the party it might radiate out to the country. Once the label of "far-right" was nearly worn by the Fidesz some years ago, before the Jobbik turned up and occupied this position.

We are eating up our own future with the corruption, negligence and ingnorance. These are the major sources of difficulty in today's hungarian society and not the Constitution that can be modified with Orban's 2/3 easily. Orbán and especially his trusted advisors know the opinion of the folks very well: politicians are incorrect, impotent but most of all overpaid. His concept of the oversized parliament is rooted in it. Wouldn't it be better to cut the earnings of the MPs to the level of a hungarian middle school teacher's income rather than reducing their number?

If someone from the RIGHT won (2/3)of parliament seats then he is welcomed to do what he likes in constitutional amendments. But if, for example, Mr. Chavez or Morales won by more than that figure, then, "this is not democracy" or "they are misusing the democracy".....
FUNNY Europe and US...!!

I know people from the Gschwindt family that never got paid for their
properties and the governement is selling them who are profiting from this deals after all who but the Gschwindt conserve factory paid for most of the expenses of the golden times of the football club.

Lets hope he starts by giving back to the originalm owners the land the commies took away,Hungary is a rich agricultural land it should make good use of it.Lets stop making begars out of the population .